Been years since I've written anything for Naruto, but I've missed these guys :) This is my first romance story for the anime so I'm still getting a feel of the characters but the idea was nagging at me and I was curious to see how it'd come out.
Story name is taken from the sad, but still inspiring 8th Naruto Shippuden opening song, Diver. So, go ahead and dive right in! Ahh, see what I did there? Okay, I'll be quiet now...
An Inconvenient Truth
Naruto looked down at his watch, noting the time to be ten after seven in the morning. He'd been told by Kakashi to be by the front gates at seven for their mission but of course, his old team captain was late.
Ordinarily, he would've been upset about that but Kakashi had revealed the day before that the mission was also to be accompanied by Sasuke, whom, for the first time in a very long time, he was not looking forward to seeing. He shook his head at just how much of a contradiction that was to everything he'd previously felt but it was the honest truth. Somehow, Sasuke had become the last person in the village he cared to see.
Nearly a year had gone by since the ending of the war, with a lot changing. Most of his peers, now jounin, had begun to train their own teams. There were talks as well of Kakashi becoming the next Hokage but nothing had been officially decided yet. And with the threat of world annihilation diverted once more, people had begun to relax and start families.
Which is fine, Naruto thought with a grumble, checking his watch again. Twenty past seven. I'm happy for everyone. But when did Sasuke start…and why does it have to be me?!
He reflected on the fact that Sasuke had actually been rather absent for most of the year, traveling around to various lands as reparation for his behavior before the war. He admired Sasuke's sense of unwavering honor but their relationship with each other was now very different from anything Naruto could've ever imagined. Each time that Sasuke would return to the village, he'd bring a gift...for him. Bringing presents back when traveling wasn't anything new but there would only ever be something for him and him only.
To add gas to the fire, Sasuke never failed to present those gifts in front of Sakura.
"I came across a book of different training techniques, maybe we should try it out?" Sasuke had told Naruto once, pushing the book towards him. Naruto had been enjoying a friendly moment with Sakura and eating ice cream that summer when Sasuke had approached. Naruto had meant to get up and leave so that she could be alone with Sasuke but the other's hand had been stretched out, holding the volume.
"Uh, thanks," Naruto had said, then cast a glance at Sakura. He felt responsible for her now sullen disposition, Sasuke again having ignored her. "Hey, maybe Sakura can join us. I mean, I know Granny Tsunade keeps her busy but—"
"Maybe," Sasuke cut him off, never looking at Sakura. His profile was turned to the side but he kept his eyes on Naruto. "I had hoped though I could train specifically against you."
Sakura stood up, threw her melted cone in the trash, and quietly walked away.
"Sakura, wait!" Naruto called and tried to go after her, but she pushed off the ground with chakra and in a flash was gone. Instead, he wheeled around to snap at Sasuke but he too had disappeared, leaving him alone with only the book. He screamed silently in frustration as he had hoped at long last Sakura might have a chance of reaching Sasuke's heart. Even though her leaving wasn't his fault (he hoped), he still felt horribly guilty.
The months rolled by and the second gift Sasuke presented was an expensive scroll painting he'd purchased from a very famous artist. While Naruto didn't care for something so ostentatious, he couldn't bring himself to throw it away. Still, at the cost of breaking Sakura's heart yet again, he refused to hang it up. He instead buried it amongst his other scrolls and tried his hardest to forget about it.
The most recent gift was where Naruto finally realized something much deeper was going on. The winter holiday was now months behind them but at that time, Sasuke had yet again appeared in the village. Both the regular school and the ninja academy were out and while sentries took shifts in overlooking the village, very few assignments were issued, making the village full and lively with everyone home for a change.
Having saved all year, Naruto decided to treat his friends to a barbecue lunch (though keeping an eye on Chouji so the boy wouldn't eat him into debt. He swore Chouji's deepest consideration went to his stomach and his stomach only). It had been great to finally catch up with everyone, though they gave a toast to those they had lost, such as Shikamaru and Ino's fathers, Asuma-sensei and of course their dear friend Neji. The moment left them laughing and crying, but it was cathartic as well and when at last they'd wiped the tears away, Naruto felt that it was a way of saying they could now go into the new year with a fresh start.
Shortly before the party was wrapping up, Sasuke entered the restaurant. Naruto quickly considered a few options; maybe he could use a clone jutsu and make a break out the back door? He could excuse himself and go to the bathroom, but he was wedged between Sai and Tenten on either side of him near the back of their booth and Sasuke would notice if he got up. He had finally settled on just ducking behind a table menu when the Uchiha approached them.
"Sasuke! Long time, no see!" Ino said first, waving her hand. "Come sit down, Naruto's treating everyone! You're not gonna get that offer again!"
Everyone laughed and Sasuke even cracked an amused grin. "Oh really now?" he asked, looking around. Naruto obstinately kept himself hidden but suddenly, he felt the menu jerk out of his hands and found himself face to face with Sasuke, who was leaning across the table.
"H-hi, Sasuke! Haha, didn't expect you here…" And just why the hell are you here?
"I can't stay for long, but I wanted to give you something before I left," Sasuke said, his hands reaching towards his collar. Naruto's heart dropped and he instantly looked over to Sakura, who met his eyes with nothing but hurt. Looking back to Sasuke, he was about to flat-out refuse whatever the hell Sasuke wanted to give him this time, until he focused on just what it was that Sasuke was holding out.
Dangling on a thin silver chain was a polished obsidian ring. Around the band, he could see that something was written but it was in unique characters that he'd heard only special members of the Uchiha clan could decipher. Still, it was admittedly beautiful and while still recovering from his surprise, Sasuke easily looped the chain over his neck.
"This ring has been in my family for generations," Sasuke told him quietly, still leaning in close from across the table, damned be the food. "It's only ever given away to someone very precious within the clan, but I want you to hold on to it for me, Naruto. And one day," he added, putting his index finger through the ring, which also pulled Naruto closer, "I'll tell you what the words mean."
Only afterwards could Naruto think of a million things he should've done, like flinging Sasuke's stupid (beautiful) ring back at him or telling him where he could shove it. Or even better, he should've told him to stop being so mean to Sakura still and to actually look at her and understand she wasn't even close to the girl he knew all those years ago, that she'd matured into an amazing konoichi that any guy would be lucky to have.
But during the moment, he was too stunned to say or do anything. Instead, Sasuke gave a rare smile—not a smirk, not a grin, but an actual full smile—before pulling back and walking out the restaurant again.
Naruto snapped himself out of his trance to again look at Sakura and this time, instead of pain, she'd arranged her expression perfectly to look neutral. Everyone else was confused as to what had just transpired and neither she nor Naruto offered any explanation. Thankfully, it seemed the general consensus was that after everything the two had been through, it was of course only natural that Sasuke would gift something so personal to Naruto; the two were like brothers now, right?
However, Naruto looked at it a different way. Sasuke wanted to monopolize him and by doing it in front of Sakura each time, he was very blatantly telling her to stay back.
Coming back to the present, Naruto felt his blood boil at the thought of it. He wasn't an item Sasuke could just own. And besides, he didn't like guys anyways! But most importantly…all of this was causing a rift between him and Sakura as well. And Hinata had taken to avoiding him too, he'd noticed, though she'd always been shy and hesitant. But now, Sakura would always claim to have something to do in the medical center whenever they crossed paths and would hurry away from him. After everything they'd been through, was this really going to be the thing to tear them apart?
No. He refused for that to happen. And so, while he wasn't eager about Sasuke coming along, he was happy that they would be away from the village for a while so that they could finally have it out without everyone else being present.
He glanced down yet again at his watch but immediately jumped backwards with a kunai out as something swift landed next to him. Clashing against his blade was another knife wielded by Sasuke who gave a satisfied grin before straightening up and sheathing his weapon. "Might want to pay more attention, Naruto. I think you're getting too soft now that the war's over."
Naruto kicked his damn self as he was half right. The peacetime had done nothing to diminish his vigilance but he'd let his guard down by allowing himself to space out thinking about…him. Instead of commenting on that though, he instead asked, "And just where've you been, huh? Kakashi-sensei told us to meet here at seven; it's nearly seven-thirty!"
"And just when has Kakashi ever been on time?" Sasuke threw back casually. "I would've been out here, waiting like a chump just like you. But maybe…" he eyed Naruto from under his lashes, "that wouldn't have been such a bad thing, you and me only."
Damn him! "Would you stop saying—"
"Gooood morning, you two~!" Kakashi chirped, appearing seemingly from nowhere and neither of them had heard or seen him come up. "Got all your stuff together? Great! Got a rather easy mission today. We need to capture a beast terrorizing a local town and relocate it to a safer area. We're gonna need to stay over at least one night at an inn though so we won't be back until tomorrow, but you should already know that if you read the original briefing. Alright, let's move out!"
Unable to finish their conversation (argument), Naruto gave a "Hmph!" and began to walk swiftly down the road away from the village, next to Kakashi. Sasuke easily fell into step as well, nonchalantly putting his hands in his pockets as he bid his time and followed along.
It should be noted that some details of this story will intentionally differ from what's in the show/manga.
Two examples of this are the facts that Sasuke is missing an arm and the fact that someone that's activated the Rinnegan cannot turn it off. For aesthetic purposes, Sasuke's eyes are still normal, excluding when he actually activates his powers.
Enough of that though; questions, comments or concerns are always appreciated!
